East London River Crossings (4)

Unmesh Desai: Please update me on the assessment work carried out for a North Greenwich-Isle of Dogs ferry.

The Mayor: An initial feasibility study has been undertaken to identify potential locations for a new pier to the east of the Isle of Dogs. Six possible locations were identified but the study was not conclusive in identifying a preferred option and more detailed consideration will need to be given to engineering feasibility, a funding strategy and stakeholder position in the coming months.

ACM cladding on GLA land (2)

Andrew Dismore: Please provide the following information on the three sites owned by the Greater London Authority where aluminium compositepanel cladding is present, plus the one London Legacy Development Corporation site currently unoccupied where relevant:
1. When the ACM cladding was installed
2. The date on which you became aware that each site had ACM cladding
3. The date on which residents at each site were made aware of the cladding

The Mayor: Information regarding these sites will be uploaded to London.gov in the coming days. My team will notify you and share the link as soon as it is published.

ACM cladding on GLA land (1)

Andrew Dismore: In your position statement to the Grenfell Tower inquiry, you stated that there are three sites where the GLA owns the freehold that currently have occupied residential blocks with aluminium compositepanel cladding. There is a further site owned by London Legacy Development Corporation where an unoccupied building has ACM cladding.
Please provide the following information:
1. The address of each site, or as precise location information as can legally be provided
2. The identity of the leaseholders or as precise information about each organisation as can be provided
3. When the sites were leased

The Mayor: Information regarding these sites will be uploaded to London.gov in the coming days. My team will notify you and share the link as soon as it is published.

Western Rail Link to Heathrow

Florence Eshalomi: The DfT have published the findings from the market sounding on the Western Rail Link to Heathrow which explored third party investment and contracting participation. The report concludes that there is sufficient market interest and financing capacity for the tunnelled section of the rail link. Do you support the rail link and the Government’s approach to delivering it?

The Mayor: The Department for Transport (DfT) market sounding exercise has confirmed that there is market appetite for the delivery of some of the infrastructure associated with Western Rail Access but is silent on the funding and revenue levels that would be needed to underpin the scheme Also, it does not address the wider feasibility of the scheme, encompassing both its construction and operation.
I have been clear that Western Rail Access will be required if Heathrow expansion goes ahead, to support the significant additional demand and help drive mode shift away from cars. I remain concerned that Government and Heathrow Airport are seeking to press ahead with Heathrow expansion but have yet to commit to or fund Western Rail Access, or any other new rail infrastructure to enable expansion.
If the burden for funding were placed largely on passengers, requiring a fare premium, it would discourage use of the service and mean more people staying in their cars – directly counter to what Western Rail Access should be seeking to achieve. The DfT report does not reference any bidders’ views on this.
The operational model is also yet to be determined. I am clear that the scheme must not adversely impact the currently envisaged operation of Elizabeth line services.

ACM cladding on GLA land (4)

Andrew Dismore: Please provide the following information on the three sites owned by the Greater London Authority where aluminium compositepanel cladding is present, plus the one London Legacy Development Corporation site currently unoccupied where relevant:
1. Records of discussions between the GLA and the leaseholders regarding the replacement of the ACM cladding
2. Any plans, budgets and timelines for the replacement of the cladding

The Mayor: Information regarding these sites will be uploaded to London.gov in the coming days. My team will notify you and share the link as soon as it is published.

ACM cladding on GLA land (3)

Andrew Dismore: Please provide the following information on the three sites owned by the Greater London Authority where aluminium compositepanels cladding is present, plus the one London Legacy Development Corporation site currently unoccupied where relevant:
1. The date on which interim fire safety measures were put in place
2. The nature of these interim measures
3. The cost of these interim measures
4. How the cost has been met

The Mayor: Information regarding these sites will be uploaded to London.gov in the coming days. My team will notify you and share the link as soon as it is published.

Delays on the London Underground caused by overcrowding

Caroline Pidgeon: Please publish a table showing for each tube line the number of incidents of tube delays due to overcrowding for each year since 2012.

The Mayor: The below table shows the number of incidents attributed to crowding/congestion, which have caused delays of two minutes or more between 2012 and 2019 (up to 07/01/2019). Over this period there has been a significant increase in passenger journeys on the London Underground network, from 1.22 billion in 2012/13 to 1.37 billion in 2016/17. On Friday 7 December, it was the busiest day ever on the tube,with 5.031 million journeys made.
Transport for London (TfL) has put in place a number of measures to address the increase in delays due to congestion. This includes appointing congestion leads for each line, and facilitating congestion workshops with staff working in stations that have significant congestion issues. These workshops are used to share best practice, while also developing and trialling new location-specific methods to reduce congestion.
Congestion at stations is often a consequence rather than a cause of delays. For example, if a customer becomes ill on a train this may result in the train being held at a platform for a few minutes. During this time the interval between trains might increase from a minute and a half to two or three minutes, which means platforms may become congested, which in turn can result in queuing at busier stations along the line.
TfL is also working to reduce the incidents that cause delays, including suicide and ‘passengers ill on train’ incidents, and litter.

Roads Funding (2)

Florence Eshalomi: Why is the Government refusing to give London it’s fair share of roads funding?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2019/0385.

Social housing regulation

Tom Copley: Do you support the recommendations of the report by Shelter’s Social Housing Commission, and agree that much stronger regulation of the sector is required to better serve social housing tenants in London?

The Mayor: I welcome the Shelter Commission’s report and support its call for substantially increased investment in social housing supply. Like the Commissioners, I too want to ensure that the correct mechanisms are in place so that the views of social housing tenants are heard loud and clear by their landlords and at a national level in policy making.
Strengthened regulation is vital to ensuring this happens. I believe that changes must make sure that tenants have improved consumer protection if things go wrong, as well as ensuring that the finances of social landlords remain well managed, so that public investment is protected.

Crossrail (1)

Florence Eshalomi: Did the coalition Government make a fatal error in 2010 when they cut £3 billion from the Crossrail budget?

The Mayor: The anticipated cost of the Crossrail project was originally £15.9bn in 2007 and increased to £17.9bn in 2009. Following the 2010 Spending Review the cost was revised to £14.8bn by the government of the time.
The combined total of the new financing arrangements means that the overall funding envelope for the project is now £17.6bn.
I do believe the Coalition Government were wrong to cut the Crossrail budget in 2010. The scale and complexity of the work that still needs to be completed is significant and whilst I believe stretching targets should be set for organisations spending public money, the overall amount of funding allocated to this hugely significant piece of infrastructure in 2010 was clearly insufficient.

ACM cladding on GLA land (5)

Andrew Dismore: Please provide the following information on the three sites owned by the Greater London Authority where aluminium compositepanel cladding is present, plus the one London Legacy Development Corporation site currently unoccupied where relevant:
1. The planned occupation date for the unoccupied block on LLDC land
2. The number of residents living on each site
3. The total number of housing units on each site
4. Details of any other premises, for example commercial space

The Mayor: Information regarding these sites will be uploaded to London.gov in the coming days. My team will notify you and share the link as soon as it is published.

The Elizabeth Line (1)

Gareth Bacon: What financial contingency plans have been put in place at Transport for London to account for the possibility of a further delay to the Elizabeth Line?

The Mayor: As the final capital costs of the Crossrail project are yet to be confirmed, a contingency arrangement has been agreed between TfL and the Government. This will allow TfL to borrow up to £750 million from the Department for Transport if the higher end of the cost estimates made by KPMG in their independent review are realised.
Until the new management of Crossrail Ltd have completed their work to deliver a credible and robust delivery schedule for the opening of the line, a cautious planning assumption is being made that revenue will be approximately £600m lower over the full five-year plan period and provision for this has been made in TfL’s latest Business Plan.

New Economics Foundation

Susan Hall: How much money has the GLA given to the New Economics Foundation over the last 5 years, broken down by year, including the current financial year and for what purpose was this given?

The Mayor: There has been one such payment of £19,600 in September 2017 for a social integration policy review and analysis undertaken for the GLA by the New Economics Foundation. Further details are provided in decision form ADD2120 which is available on the GLA’s website and which was signed off in May 2017.

TfL Taxi Proposals

Andrew Boff: What is the reasoning behind the proposals to allow buses to travel east on Duke Street Hill and Tooley Street but not Taxis?

The Mayor: My Transport Strategy sets out my intention that 80 per cent of journeys in London will be made through walking, cycling or by public transport by 2041. The Tooley Street proposals were designed to support this aim by encouraging Londoners to utilise these modes of travel.
There are six eastbound bus routes that use Tooley Street, two of which operate at night time only, providing a high level of bus service within this corridor. By reducing overall traffic volumes, the proposals were developed to provide more reliable bus journeys, while also creating a safer and more comfortable environment for those walking and cycling in the area. In developing the proposals, TfL considered the alternative eastbound taxi routes to the station via the taxi ranks on St Thomas Street and London Bridge Street.
Transport for London recently consulted on the proposals and will of course take the responses into account before coming to a decision.
Please also see my response to Mayor’s Question 2018/5227.